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Vertex announces 16 grant recipients of Hep-C Circle of Care program

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that it has awarded 16 grants totaling approximately $1.5 million to a variety of academic, patient and community groups as part of the Vertex Hep-C Circle of Care program, a pilot competitive grants program designed to foster innovative approaches to patient care and support people living with chronic hepatitis C.

5 Nov 2011

Appropriate tests, treatments needed for pediatric TB

In this post on the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, Grania Brigden, the tuberculosis adviser to the Medecins Sans Frontieres Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, writes that while "[t]his year's Global Tuberculosis Control report shows the beginning of a decline in the global tuberculosis epidemic, ... there is a stark lack of data for children," continuing, "Without a clear estimate of the magnitude of the problem it is hard to motivate governments, researchers and donors."

5 Nov 2011

Study: Birth cohort screening for HCV is cost effective in primary care setting

According to a new study being published early online in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, birth cohort screening for hepatitis C is cost effective in the primary care setting.

5 Nov 2011

Ansell launches GAMMEX Powder-Free glove with AMT Antimicrobial Technology in Europe

Global leader in healthcare protection and safety solutions lands CE Mark for GAMMEX Powder-Free Gloves with AMT Antimicrobial Technology.

5 Nov 2011

Rothman researchers to develop gold standard definition for periprosthetic joint infection

A rise in periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) rates has the orthopedic community moving to develop it's first-ever agreed upon definition and diagnostic criteria to help better treat patients.

5 Nov 2011

Study finds increase in cervical cancer incidence among young British women

The incidence of cervical cancer in women in their 20s has risen by over 40 per cent between 1992 and 2006 in England, despite the overall incidence of cervical cancer dropping by 30 per cent, according to research that will be presented at the annual National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool which starts tomorrow.

5 Nov 2011

Experts look to India to develop accurate, affordable TB diagnostics

SciDev.Net examines tuberculosis (TB) in India, which has the world's highest TB burden, and some experts' hopes that researchers in the country can develop accurate and affordable diagnostic test kits.

4 Nov 2011

Global Fund releases additional audits as part of internal investigation

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Tuesday posted the results of several internal audits, showing "that 12 more probes had turned up an additional $20 million of mismanagement, alleged fraud and misspending," the Associated Press/CBSNews.com reports.

4 Nov 2011

'Medicine that grows' confronts antibiotics resistance

It's been called "the trots," "Montezuma's Revenge," "the runs" and worse. But no matter the name, when it strikes, victims wish for a medicine that could go straight to the offending bacteria to quickly knock it dead.

4 Nov 2011

Inhibitex third quarter revenue increases to $1.3 million

Inhibitex, Inc. today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011 and provided an update on several recent corporate developments, including top-line safety and antiviral data from the first cohort in its ongoing clinical trial designed to evaluate higher doses of INX-189, an oral nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, being developed to treat chronic infections caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV), administered as monotherapy or in combination with ribavirin for seven days.

4 Nov 2011

Kenyan company receives WHO prequalification for generic ARV

"The cost of HIV/AIDS medicine is expected to drop by 30 percent in Kenya, enabling more people to access life-prolonging drugs, after the World Health Organization (WHO) gave the green light to a local company manufacturing generics, The Star newspaper reported on Wednesday," AlertNet reports.

4 Nov 2011

Investment in USAID has saved millions of lives, is critical for U.S. security

In this Politico opinion piece, Brian Atwood and colleagues, all former USAID administrators in previous Democratic or Republican administrations and current advisers to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, write, "Over the last half-century, USAID has had an extraordinary record of accomplishment. Using less than one percent of the U.S. budget annually, the American people have demonstrated their deepest values through USAID programs, saving tens of millions of lives worldwide with immunization programs, oral rehydration therapy, treatment for HIV/AIDS and work on other diseases."

4 Nov 2011

Important to keep obstacles to malaria control in mind as research moves forward

In a post in the Center for Strategic & International Studies' "Smart Global Health" blog, Julia Nagel, web and social media assistant at the Global Health Policy Center, examines "the obstacles that global malaria control efforts face," writing that "eradicating malaria is complex and difficult" because "there are four species of human malaria" that "respond differently to medicines, exhibit drug resistance in different ways, and most importantly, make finding a fool-proof vaccine against all malaria nearly impossible."

4 Nov 2011

Global Fund, China agree to cut $95M from grants for health programs in the country

"The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced on Monday that it will withhold $95 million from the $270 million in grants it had planned to give China" after "months of discussion between the charity and Chinese officials," China Daily reports.

4 Nov 2011

Healthcare workers who wear gloves less likely to wash their hands

Healthcare workers who wear gloves while treating patients are much less likely to clean their hands before and after patient contact, according to a study published in the December issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

4 Nov 2011

Financial investment, progress in HIV/AIDS treatment must be protected by international patent law

In this Hill opinion piece, John Castellani, CEO and president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, writes, "Over the past three decades, more than 30 treatments have been approved to treat HIV/AIDS," but he adds, "While this is remarkable progress, it's not enough."

4 Nov 2011

Media coverage of potential link between hormonal contraception, HIV risk needed more 'critical thinking'

In a Nature News opinion piece, James Shelton, science adviser for USAID's Bureau for Global Health, discusses media coverage of recent findings from the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases showing that women's use of hormonal contraception (HC) may increase the risk of HIV acquisition or transmission.

4 Nov 2011

PlusNews reports on importance of cost-effectiveness of ZAMSTAR study for policymakers, donors amid economic downturn

PlusNews reports on the results of the Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction (ZAMSTAR) study released on Monday at the International Lung Health Conference in Lille, France, which show that "home-based tuberculosis (TB) education and testing reduced community TB prevalence by about 20 percent."

4 Nov 2011

Measles virus develops a strategy of diabolic elegance

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered why measles, perhaps the most contagious viral disease in the world, spreads so quickly. The virus emerges in the trachea of its host, provoking a cough that fills the air with particles ready to infect the next host. The findings may also help in the fight against ovarian, breast and lung cancers.

3 Nov 2011

Study outlines evolution of malaria, leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis

One of the most comprehensive analyses yet done of the ancient history of insect-borne disease concludes for the first time that malaria is not only native to the New World, but it has been present long before humans existed and has evolved through birds and monkeys.

3 Nov 2011